Ice Age 4: A New Age
by KaylaDestroyer
Summary: This is where I got the idea for " Diego's Journal " from. The herd is taken to the future by a strange force, and have the best adventure yet! Also, this has a little bit of Diego/Sid in it, cuz' they're my fav charecters! Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1: The storm

This is where I came up with the idea for the " Diego's Journal " story, as some of you already know, and I would now like to present to the readers of FanFiction, and of coarse it's members,: Ice Age 4: A New Age. since some of you have already read Diego's Journal, you know some of the story. But for those who havn't, I'll leave you to read this masterpiece!

Ice Age 4: A New Age

Chapter 1: The Storm

Diego worriedly looked out of the family cave. Dark purple clouds that seemed black hovered above it. Ten min. ago, the large storm had begun. At the storm's fisrt signs, the herd had rushed to the family , the storm seemed to move in their direction, before stopping directly over the cave, then spreading itself out, then standing still again. Suddenly, a bright purple bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, causing all of Diego features to show shock, surprise, and fear. Right after this followed a thunderclap louder than life, that caused everyone to jump a mile high and Peaches began to cry. Diego turned around to see his herd. Manny and Ellie were trying their best to sooth frightened Peaches, Crash and Eddie had dropped dead from all the shock, and to his left, Diego could see Sid, a little deeper in than everyone else, sitting against the cave wall, one hand on his heart. Diego himself could still feel his heart pounding like a fast human drumbeat against his ribcage. Everyone except Manny, Ellie and Peaches were still breathing pretty fast. Diego looked back outside, and squinted at the clouds. There was a tiny bright purple dot. Then he gasped, the dot had gotten larger, and he now saw it was a bright purple tornado, heading straight for the family cave. Diego jumped up and backed away, " Everyone back it up! " he called into the cave, keeping his eyes on the bright purple, swirling column of air. He could hear the herd backing away.

" Diego what's the meaning of this? " Manny called back in a voice that wasn't hostile, but he needed to know because he was scared and worried. If Diego wanted them to back into the cave during a storm like this, it was probably for a very good reason. So his voice was a lot calmer and flatter than he felt.  
" Look outside! " Diego shouted, not even turning around to face them. In the few seconds that Many had spoken, the wind, thunder, and lightning had become way louder and was happening faster, so if you wanted to speak, you had to shout. The herd looked outside and were astonished to see the oddly colored tornado, coming right towards them out of the sky! Despite the herds quick efforts, they couldn't get back far enough. They soon reached the very back of the small cave, and pushed against it desperatly, like an animal cornered by humans, hoping for some miracle, that they would be able to escape. But it was no use. They turned to see the tornado, now inside their cave, and quivered. The bottom of it wasn't on the ground, it was a circle with space inside of it facing them. A swirling column of air that threatened to pick them up off the ground that got closer by the minute. Peaches began to cry, and Ellie held her ever tighter. The elements were so loud you would have to scream now, " I've seen some weird things in nature, but I've never seen a tornado like this one! " Diego screamed to Manny.

" I know! " was all that Manny could scream back, his heart was in his throaght, and he could hardly speak. He now looked to his right to see Sid trying to snuggle up close to Diego, cowering. He watched as Diego took one foreleg ,  
wrapped it around Sid, and brought the sloth around his side, underneath the sabers chest, so that the sloth's back was facing the tornado. Diego looke back up at the mammoth," If this thing takes us, we should make sure it takes us all together! " he screamed.

Many nodded and grabbed Ellie's trynk with his own, so she wouldn't have to let go of Peaches. " Crash Eddie,  
latch yourselves onto Ellie! " he screamed over the wind and everything. Crash and Eddie, who were sitting on top of Ellie at the moment, grabbed the hair on her head as tight as they could. Manny turned his head back to Diego, who had his other forleg cluthing one of the mammoth's hindlegs. The saber gave Manny a nod, and the mammoth nodded back. Manny now focused his attention on the bright purple tornado, getting ever closer. It was almost upon them now...

While Manny was securing everyone, Diego had felt Sid's body quivering, and clutched Sid tighter. Sid looked up at him, and Diego looked down at Sid. Then, for one reason or another, Diego felt his heart melt when he saw Sid, one of his best friends, crying because he was so scared. Diego felt his whole face go from strong willed and wanting the herd stick together, to loose and blank at the sight of poor, weak, terrified Sid with tears in his eyes and streaming down his face. To Diego, Sid had never looked like a child, but now, Sid's features seemed to expose youth, immaturness, fear, and a want to be comforted. They both held the gaze for a minute. During that time, Diego realized that, kid or not, he should have just swallowed his pride long ago, and been nicer to Sid. He had been sarcastic, a little mean, and sometimes didn't involve himself at all with Sid. Even though it was Sid who had first brought everyone together in the first place, had helped him conqor his fear of water. While everyone held themselves together, Sid was kind of that point where everyone's loose ends met. If Sid was gone, then everyone would miss him. And if no one else wanted to get Sid back ( although he couldn't imagine that )... Diego finally realized that he would leave the herd just to find him. In fact, if he had to, he would live with only Sid the until maybe he found a mate, had kids, but he would never make the same mistake as to forever push Sid away most of the time. Sid had qualities that were hard to find, qualities that Diego considered important. The saber could feel sadness, regret, but most of all, gult, creep onto his face as he realizedthat despite all Sid had done for him, he had almost always treated the sloth way less than what he was worth. Well, he would do that no more. He tightned his lips, taking notice of their situation once again, and pressed his elbow into Sid back, and held Sid's head against his chest with one paw. He felt this signified how much he now deeply cared about Sid. Sid took no hesitation in wrapping his arms around Diego. Although whether it was to stay together or because he somehow knew how Diego felt, Diego didn't know. But in any case, he didn't let go of the sloth.  
Sid continued to cry, and Diego felt so sad for him. He seemed young, and if he was, how scared he must be in this situation. He could see poor Eddie crying, and he saw Crash wrap one arm around his twin brother. Diego smiled in his heart. if Crash could hug his brother, then he could do this to try and comfort Sid, not to mention try and apologize for the mistreatment he gave Sid for so long...

Sid continued to cry, he felt so scared, but he didn't think anyone noticed it. He knew the only reason Diego was holding him right now was because the saber wanted them to stick together if the tornado sucked them all into itself. Then, for one reason or another, he felt Diego's grip around his sides tighten. Still terrified and crying, he looked up at Diego in curiousity. Diego looked down at him, at first, with a face that had a strong will that nobody would be separated from the group. But when Diego saw the Sid's tears, his face changed to blank surprise. This confused Sid, he didn't expect that from Diego. Still curious, Sid watched to see what Diego would do. He saw Diego face bend around to show things like regret, sadness, and guilt. Then he tightened his lips, pressed the elbow of the forearm around him into Sid's back, and held Sid's head against his chest. Even though Sid still felt terrified, he felt a small patch of comfortment in his heart, and wanted more of it, so he wrapped his arms around the feline. Tears still flowed from his eyes, but now there wern't as many...

The tornado continued to inch closer, until it picked the herd up off the ground and pulled them away from the back wall of the cave. Surprisingly, it carried them a foot above the ground. The herd was stunned by this when they had been taken outside the cave and could clearly see their situation. Then the storm was sat still for a moment, swirling just a foot above the ground, then it slowly pulled itself into the dark purple clouds. The herd looked at the ground below in amazement, detatching themselves from eachother. Except Sid, who had to have at least a hand touching Diego at all times. Then, about 30 feet below all the clouds ( they estimated ) the funnel cloud stopped raising itself. And the oddest sensation anyone had ever felt came over everyone in the herd as the whole storm started to travel at what seemed a faster than lightning speed. It started out as just the sensation in your gut when you move really fast. But it soon mutated itself into feeling so unrecognizable they felt as though they all might just drop unconcious. But they all used the small bit of strength they had to huddle up again. Diego and Sid had at least one arm wrapped around the other, Diego clutching one of Manny's hind legs, Manny held Ellie'd trunk while Ellie held Peaches, and Crash and Eddie grasper her hair again, with Crash having one arm wrapped around his twin brother...  



	2. Chapter 2 : The Human Enemies

_Thank you so much for reviewing, Paolokid12! I was just so anxious to post the next chapter, I didn't waitfor anymore reviews. So, without further adieu, Chapter two!_

Ice Age 4: A New Age

Chapter 2: The Human Enemies

All of a sudden, the odd feeling stopped, and the herd was dropped by the tornado onto a very hard, cold ground. At first, they all thought it was ice, and that they were probably just a few miles from home. But when they all finally regained their bearings, they saw that the ground was made up of medium sized,black squares. They looked around,and saw the oddest cave walls anyone would have ever laid eyes on. They were gray and sleek, and were also cold, but not like the cold rock from the walls of their cave at home during summer. Maybe this place wasn't even a cave at all! It had three walls, but where there would be an open place to walk in and out of, were vertical, black bars. And it looked as though only the possums could fit in between them. On the other side of the bars, it was completly dark. The only light from anywhere came from an odd little human looking thing that hung from the ceiling of the small place. They didn't get much time to carefuly observe what they could see, because a bright light came on from the other side of the bars. In five seconds flat, their sight had gone from barely being able to see each other to perfect sight. The herd covered their eyes in pain from the shock of the extreme change. When they looked again, a human man was standing in front of the bars, an evil grin on his face as he took their appearence and what they were, with eyes that were filled with 1: Insaness. 2: The hunger for power. He grabbed the bars and stared at them for a few moments, his eyes also filling with pleasure. " We've finally done it boys! " he called over his shoulder, then he looked back at the oddball herd. " Nothing stands in our way now! " he said with an evil kind of happy in his voice.  
" I think you mean we've finally done half of it, and the serum not working is the only thing that stands in our way." a man across the room chuckled. The one standing in front of them had orange hair, eyes that were a shade of brown they didn't recognize, and white clothing. They caught a glimpse of a large hanful of human men when the orange haired man turned to the one who had just commented. This sarcastic commentor they saw was smiling mischieviously, had brown hair and bright green eyes, and like everyone else in the larger area on the other side of the bars, was wearing white clothes. They saw an odd table that was made of an unknown material ( to the herd ), and all kinds of odd human looking " tools " on the walls around the human men. They noticed that out where the humans were, the area had four walls, ( also white, ) and they could see black lines seeming to cut out a rectangular area on one wall.

" We will not focus on that, we will focus on our current progress, " he said, then turned back to the herd, and stared Manny straight in the eyes, " and we will push ourselves forward until we wholly succeed! " he whispered in evil delight, grinning. Peaches began to whine and snuggle Ellie, Manny moved in front protectivly, and Crash and Eddie grabbed each other in fear. Sid hugged Diego harder, and Diego clutched Sid tighter, both forearms around the sloth now since he had let go of Manny's leg. The human just laughed evilly. Then turned to the other humans, " Get the serum in the needle. " He commanded one man with jet black hair and a strong, thin frame. The man nodded, turned , and left the small area by opening the rectangle in wall. Turning back to the herd, the orange haired man began to survey them, as if trying to figure out who had the right qualities for whatever he was about to do. When his eyes rested on Sid, who at this time was turned around facing the bars so that Diego had his forearms stretched down across Sid's chest and stomach, clutching him, his evil grin reached his ears, and leaned forward a little out of anticipation, gripping the bars, " You, are perfect! " he said quietly. sid gulped and tried to push himself farther into Diego's chest, hoping to just dissapear. Diego held Sid closer to his chest and growled menacingly, protectivness in his eyes. The man just laughed his evil laugh again. Then he turned to the other humans, " Get to separating them ! " he barked. " And that's an order! "

Then, the other men opened the space the herd was in, and , species by species, removed the herd members, and put them in spaces around the room that had no barrier on the fourth side whatsoever, at least that was what the herd thought at first. Manny was the one who discovered the hard way that these humans were truthfully crafty beyond the herd's imaginations. Once the one who was separating Manny, Ellie and Peaches had taken a step back from where the mammoths were being kept, Manny charged forward, only to be met with a shock that sent pain searing throughhis whole body. it had been caused by what looked like to the animals watching, purple strikes of lighting that just came out of the frame of the empty wall in front of the smal place the mammoths were being held in. The male crumpled to the floor and slowly made his way back to Ellie and Peaches in the small area they were being held in. Although they squirmed and bit and did everything they could, Crash and Eddie were thrown into an area the same size as the one Manny, Ellie and Peaches were in, of coarse it was much bigger and spacious to them, and they knew not to try and escape. Then the men went back to Diego and Sid. At this point, the orange haired man, whom by now they clearly knew was their leader, said, " Just leave the cat there, I want the sloth here! " he said. They looked at him, and in his hand, they saw a tool in his hand that sent shivers down all their spines. One end was a long, thin stick, and looked like it was meant to poke someone. The next part was a long cylinder, filled with a lime green liquid. The very last part was a long, thicker stick, and at one end had a liitle ring that the human had one finger in, and the rest of his fingers on the cylinder part. He had his evill grin on, and his eyes had that same look of insaness and hunger for power. His other hand was on the strange table. He seemed excited, like an eager saber cub, who had finally been alowed to come along on a hunt.

_Ya' like? Please review and tell me what you think. constructive critism is very much appreciated!_


	3. Chapter 3: Escape from the Mutation Lab

Thank you to Paolokid12, goldenpuon, and others for reviewing! So, without any hesitation, chapter three here is my next presentation!

Ice Age 4: A New Age

Chapter 3: Escape from the Mutation Lab

One human that looked like it was probably in it's twenties, stepped toward Diego and Sid, while the others stood back and watched nervously. Diego growled as he stepped forward, and held Sid even tighter, turning so that his left side faced the human man. " Now just settle down, all I want is the sloth. Nothing to do with you, and we aren't gonna' hurt him bad. " the man said quietly and calmly, squatting in front of Diego, looking the saber straight in the eyes, which ended up as one of is two mistakes. While his voice was genuine, his eyes held malice, unkindness, and cruelty. Diego already knew very clearly ( the whole herd knew ) what these humans were planning to do to Sid. His growl grew more intense and he backed away a little bit. " Come on now, everything's o.k., you've got nothing to worry about or be afraid of. " The human was whispering now. His second mistake turned out to be reaching to try and pry Sid out of Diego's grip at that very moment. Anger, protectivness, and hate sent Diego eyes up in flames when the human's hand came within inches of Sid. Since it was so close Diego did the first action that came to his mind. Bite. So, without any hesitation, he jerked his head forward, clamped his jaws on the hand reaching for Sid, and squeezed it as hard as he could, digging his teeth in, just long enough for the man to let out a scream of agony, before realeasing it. The human fell back on his hind-quarters when his hand was realeased, then stumbled to his feet and took two steps back. " You, you horrible, rotton thing! " he studderingly spat at Diego, who also had some of the blood around his mouth and on his teeth, and made a mixture of noises that were growling and almost a roar. The man glared daggers at him, holding his injured hand gingerly. The other humans' eyes widened and they all slowly backed away.

The orange haired man rolled his eyes and tossed hid head in irritation, his lips bending into a frown. " Augh, you idiot! You cannot just sweet-talk an animal in your own language and expect it to do whatever you want! " he said loudly with anger, slapping his hand down on the table. Then walked slowly over to Diego and Sid, " You have to either coax it very gently for a certain amount of time, or get what you want quickly by force. " his voice was quiet again, as it usually got when he was experiencing emotion. " You, you, and you," he said turning to three of the men, who were quite burly, as he stopped in front of the area Diego and Sid were being held captive, " You two grab the grab the saber and then you wrench the sloth from it's grip. " he said pointing to the specific men to do each job, just quietly enough that even Diego couldn't hear his words, he clearly wasn't taking any chances.

The men stepped forward, and when they got close enough, Diego lashed out with one paw, claws extended, which turned out as a mistake. One man evaded the lash and grabbed his forearm. Diego roared and twisted and pulled, but it was no use, for another human took a chance and grabbed his other forearm, leaving Sid just sitting in front of Diego. The sloth screamed, " Aaah! " and grabbed Diego's sides as the saber twisted and thrashed himself about. But their efforts were no use. The last human managed to peel Sid away from Diego, who was occupied trying to bite and scratch the two men holding him tight. Once in his arms, Sid wriggled around and twisted, trying his hardest to escape from the man's grasp. " No! Let me go! Oh! " Sid said, tears in his eyes again from fear.

Diego shouted," Put him down! " while watching Sid being carried away and continued to struggle.

When the human was out of the holding area, the other two let go of Diego and made a mad dash for the exit of the small area. The herd could only watch in silent worry and shock. Diego chased after them, until he came about a foot's distance within the place where he would get the same shock Manny did. Angry dissasperation, surprise, and desperation clouded his face. His green eyes blazed, and the herd knew that this wasn't the end. " Ah, finally! " the orange haired man said as Sid was set on the table and held down by four other humans. " At last I will be able to test my liquid creation on a weak, controllable animal! " he said with evil satisfaction, poised over Sid's body, with the strange tool in his hand. Sid broke down crying and whimpering under the his gaze. But before the orange haired man had the chance to do anything, something miraculous happened...  
Diego was contemplating what to do, when he heard the orange haired man say something that put him on edge, and then Sid crying and whimpering for all he was worth. That was it. That drove him to his limit. Somehow, he really didn't know how, Diego's body suddenly became numb, while his heart burned with emotion, and he leaped straight through the lightning with a roar, onto the table where Sid was, grabbed the sloth with one forearm, and at the same time grabbed the tool holding the 'serum' in his mouth, being careful not to crush it and landed on the cold, hard floor on the other side of the table. Then, turning and glaring at the men still surrounding the table in shock, took the serum out of his mouth and held it. " Impossible ! " the orange haired man whispered, staring at Diego with shock, admiration, and a bit of respect.

Diego held the tool loosely between two claws, while holding Sid tightly with his other forearm, and, taking a bold step, said quietly, but loud enough for them all to hear, " You want this? " and every single human that heard him, their face went white with shock.

" Yes. " the orange haired man said gently, taking a step forward, holding one hand out towards Diego.

Diego eyes narrowed for a moment, then widened back to normal again, and he switched to holding the cylinder part of the tool, " Then go get it! " he told them at regular voice level, then turned to where Crash and Eddie were being held and called out, " Boys, back it up! " The possums got the idea, and didn't have to be told again. Then he threw the tool in the air, way behind the humans against the wall next to Crash and Eddie's holding area, where, despite the orange haired man's efforts, it shattered, and the serum was spilled all over a few tiles on the floor.

" No,no, nooooooooooooooooooooooooo! " he called out trying to catch it. " My research, my time, my effort! Money I spent! " he said kneeling in front of the liquid. Then, turning to Diego, anger and angry frustration in his eyes, he yelled, " You! You have destroyed my creation! You stupid animal! "

" You would have destroyed my friend if I hadn't stopped you. " Diego said in retort.

One man that had red hair stepped back and pressed himself against one of the walls, " Oy, the bloody cat can speak english! " he shouted out of shock. The herd could do no more than feel the same way and stare at the scene playing before them.

" You honstly thought that the serum would kill him, you idiot? " the orange haired man asked Diego.

" Not that kind of destroy, human! Whatever you were planning to do, I figured wouldn't kill him physically, but in other senses. " The orange haired man gave him a blank stare, so Diego decided to continue, " Whatever you were planning to do, I knew wouldn't be good. I could envision his spirit and personality being 'killed' because of you. Plus, Sid isn't the most mature and stable adult I've met in my life. I could see him 'dieing' mentally, or having a mental breakdown, from your crazy idea. "

The orange haired man stared at Diego increduously, " You care about that sloth a lot don't you? " he asked quietly.

" Like you needed to ask. " Diego said, gripping Sid tighter...

Sid had just sat quietly in Diego's warm, protective grip, comfortable and quite happy the saber had saved him from whatever the human had been planning. He had been stunned to hear the lightning bolts when Diego jumped out of his holding area, and then grabbed him off the table along with the serum. He had felt secure when Diego had held him before during the tornado episode and the incident where the human had tried to sweet talk Diego. Now though, in this staring contest after Diego had spoken and gripped Sid tighter, he felt worried...

The herd ( including Diego and Sid ) watched as the orange haired man slowly stood up, walked two steps forward, then took his right and and quickly slammed on a flat, bright red disk that seemed stuck to the wall, and a loud, eerie sound echoed throughout the room, making all the animals flinch. Suddenly, a male voice came out of nowhere and said, " All animal control units please report to testing room 515 for an animal encagement. "

Diego seemed to realize it was time to act. He turned around, and behind him saw a wall covered with different colored discs covering it. He looked down at Sid, " Start pressing! " he commanded the sloth. Sid obeyed the first time he was told. After a few tries, and a whole ton of stuff happening behind them, Sid finally pressed a blue one and the power that caused the lightning bolts to shock anyone who tried to escape from their holding area seemed to dwindle and then, just, went off he guessed...

" Good work! " he heard Diego say to him. As much as Sid liked the complement, this all just wasn't like Diego's personality. The sloth turned to look at the rest of his herd as he heard Diego call out to them over all the noise of other things happening in the room and the orange haired man fighting his way through all the mayhem, shouting insults at Diego, " Let's go go go! Avoid the stuff and follow me and Sid! " Then Sid looked up at Diego and Diego looked down at Sid, " You care for a ride, O-Terrified-One? " he said giving Sid a small smile. That sounded more like the sloth's feline friend.

" Sure. Thanks. " Sid said gratefully, and climbed onto the saber's back. They both turned to rest of the herd, who were standing beside them now. Manny raised an eyebrow at Diego when he saw Sid's current position. " Don't ask. " Sid heard the cat say, and chuckled...

Diego had decided to do somehing he had never done to Sid before, since the sloth apparently needed something to smile about besides the complement Diego had just given him. " You care for ride, O-Terrified-One? " he asked the sloth being held in his fore arm. " He saw Sid smile.

" Sure. Thanks. " Sid said to him gratefully. Diego stood up on all fours, and waited while Sid climbed onto his back. Then they both turned to the rest of the herd who were standing next to them now, and saw Manny raise an eyebrow, looking from him to Sid and back at Diego's face again. The saber didn't really feel like talking about it too much, so he just said, " Don't ask. " and heard sid chuckle up on top of his back. Diego just smiled and rolled his eyes, as he stated before, Sid wasn't the most mature adult Diego had met in his life...

Manny and everyone else prepared themselves to escape, " You all ready? " Diego asked the herd, and received a nod from them all. The mayhem was beginning to die down and the orange haired man was closer now, shouting insults at all of them now. He looked up/back at Sid, " You secure? " he asked the sloth, who nodded. " Good. " Diego said plainly, then he nodded at Manny, who first bashed the rectangle in the wall down so that Crash, Eddie, Diego and Sid could get out, then the whole entire wall so he, Ellie, and Peaches, being wrapped in Ellie trunk, could escape. Then thay all ran pell mell through the place. Weaving in around humans, knocking some down or out of their way, finally seeing a pair of giant doors in front of them. They all increased their speed, crashed through the doors, and ran for their life's worth out on a long, wide grassy plain, with nothing else human in sight, except what they had just escaped.

You all like? Please tell me if I'm doing anything wrong, I would very much appreciate constructive critism, & please R&R.


	4. Chapter 4: Finding a New Home

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, your complements and constructive critism are very much appreciated. Now I figure that you're all probably waiting for more, so now here's, chapter 4!

Chapter 4: Finding a New Home

The herd stopped dead in their tracks once they felt they had reached far enough away from the human place. They all stood panting, with the exception of Sid, who had barely been able to cling to Diego the whole ride...

" Whew! Diego, I never knew you could run so fast! In fact, all of you were like lightning! " Sid said after regaining his bearings from the ride Diego had so kindly offered, something he had never done before...

" Thanks! " Diego rasped out, breathing heavily and wobbling on his paws hardly able to stand, and Sid's weight sinking into reality on his back didn't help at all, but he wouldn't give in. Not with Sid on him. He didn't think it was right to just be his normal self: sarcastic, maybe a little mean, but in general, not Sid's favorite out of the herd. At least that was what Diego thought. He decided he would just let Sid step off of him instead of just sitting down and letting him fall on the ground, and then go back to his usual self, but a bit nicer. So that he wouldn't draw any more attention to his strange actions...

Sid quickly caught the reality of Diego's current state, and stepped of of him quickly and gently. Diego looked at Sid and gave him a weak smile of gratitude before sitting down. Sid smiled back then bent doiwn and whispered in Diego's ear, " That was un usualy nice of you. Thanks. "...

Diego felt like the weight of planet earth had been lifted off of him as Sid stepped off of his back. He looked at Sid and gave the sloth a weak smile of gratitude. Then he sat down on the ground, and heard a soft whisper in his ear, " That was unusually nice of you. Thanks. " He turned his head to his right, just enough to see Sid, and smiled. " No problem! " he whispered back equally softly...

Everyone just sat or stood in silence for a few minutes, while the ruckus of the human place behind them died down, without looking back. Save for Diego and Sid of coarse, but nobody besides them payed any attention to anything accept their own thoughts. Then, just when everyone felt calmed down and felt their energy replenished, to everyone's horror, a noise that sounded like miniature thunder claps sounded behind them, and they all turned around to see humans comming at them on srtange things with two wheels that could move with out legs, and four big things with four wheels that could move without legs. With humans on and in them. One other thing they all regognized were nets. Big, thick nets that if you were to cut through with claws, would take a lot of time. " Time to move! " Manny said,placing Crash and Eddie on his back. Ellie picked picked up Peaches, and they all ran pell mell straight forward, no idea where they were headed...

Diego, while running, turned to Sid, who was beside him, " You need a ride? " he asked. Even though Sid hadn't run as much as the others and might have had more energy, he knew Sid wasn't a very fast runner, and didn't want the sloth to be left behind...

Sid felt like he was the fastest thing in the world, running from the humans and their strange, moving things. He felt a bit guilty for Diego though because this was the second time today the saber was running for his life. Only this time, he wasn't carrying Sid on his back. Diego suddenly spoke up, " You need a ride? " Sid decided not to burden his friend again.

" No, I'm fine! Thanks! "...  
...

Morgan Green walked out of Claire's, excited like never before. She had only seen Claire's in malls, now though, it was also a small store on the side of the road, right next to a Starbucks in fact. She had invited her friends along on a summer shopping trip there, even Karissa McKenzie, who although she enjoyed it, she seemed very wary of Morgan. But Morgan didn't pay much attention to that, she just made sure that everyone she invited was happy and had fun. Next they went next door to Starbucks and had coffe, of coarse Karissa wasn't allowed to have coffe, so she just had a cold milk. When they walked out of Starbucks, they decided to sit at the tables and talk. Although Karissa just sat with Morgan's mother and talked with her, still drinking her cold milk. Then Karissa pointed something out all of a sudden, " Hey! My milk's shaking and I'm not doing anything to it! " Everyone looked at their coffe and saw the same thing happening. Other people were noticing their drinks shaking too. Then, tables started shaking, then people were loosing their balance and staggering about. Then, the craziest thing happened! A wooly mammoth with two possums on it's back came running from one end of the road, closely followed by a smaller wooly mammoth, carrying a baby wooly mammoth. Then behind them came a saber toothed cat. Then, a few seconds later, a three toed sloth came half running, half wadddly, panting hard. Morgan leaned out over the road a bit to watch the animals continue running down the street. Unfortunatly, ( for her ) she tripped on a small rock on the sidewalk , then fell down forward, landing face first into her cup of coffe. Which lucky for her had cooled off while they were all talking. Karissa couldn't help laughing, before going over to help Morgan, who was laying on her stomach, propped up on her elbows, her face covered in coffe and a shocked expression. "You okay, Morgan? " Karissa asked, picking the girl up around her middle and setting her on her feet. Morgan could do no more than stand, frozen in shock and stare into space. Then, a bunch of people on motorcycles, four giant trucks, with some giant nets, came zooming past everyone, in the direction the animals had gone.  
...

The herd ran, past humans, human structures, around those moving things without legs, just trying to get away from the humans chasing them. Finally, they turned and Diego and Sid went in between two of the human structures, and Manny, Ellie, Crash, Eddie, and Peaches hid behind the two structures Diego and Sid were hiding in between. Everything chasing after them passed by, and continued on and on, giving the herd a chance to escape to a deserted part of the town. They all finally stopped, Crash and Eddie sat down and leaned against one of the human structures, deep in thought, Manny and Ellie layed down next to one another with Peaches, Diego layed down on his back, and Sid sat next to him. They were all panting hard except Crash, Eddie, and Peaches. Eddie piped up all of a sudden, " Hey, have any of you figured out why us and humans can talk to eachother? "

" I was just thinking about that. " Crash said, looking at his twin.

" I'm still working on that. " Diego said, rolling over to lay on his stomach.

" It is strange. " Sid said, looking up at the sky in thought.  
Manny thought about that, but couldn't come to any conclusion. He was just as stumped as the rest of the herd.

Suddenly, Diego's eyes widened, and he raised his head up, " Maybe,- Hmm, maybe not. That's a long shot... "

Everyone looked at him, " What is it, Diego? " Ellie asked.

" Well, we usually hear human's talk as grunting, and shouting, and just noises, right? " he asked. Everyone nodded. " Well, what if humans couldn't actually talk where we came from, but here, they can. So now, we can actually, understand eachother. " Diego shook his head, " But that's just a crazy idea, and like I said, it's a very long shot. "

" Well, right now, that long shot is all we've got to go on. " Manny said. " It's probably not the answer, but we'll figure out why later. Right now, we need to figure what to do. " Everybody stood up and began to discuss what to do and where to go. But, they finally ended up sneaking around until they found a human living place. It was away from all the rush of the more clumped area of the humans, and it was in a neat little community with places almost exactly like it. It was much different from the human tents they were used to seeing in camps. Here, the camps, or whatever they were called, were much larger. The new living places were a lot bigger than tents too. This one was deserted on the outside, and, since he had spent quite a bit of time around humans, Diego read some words on what he told the herd was a sign.  
Diego read aloud, " The owners of this house are gone and will never return.  
This house is free to any poor soul passing by who needs a home.  
God bless whoever takes it. " Diego looked back at the living place, " I guess that's what's called a house. " He just stared at it for a few moments, and so did everyone else. Then Diego turned to Manny, " Hey Manny, " he said.

Manny looked down at Diego, " What? " he answered.

" Why do you suppose the humans are gone? " he asked the mammoth.

Manny thought for a moment, " Maybe all except one of them died of age, they couldn't keep the family's 'house', so they put this sign up before they left? " Manny guessed.

" I hope you're right, Manfred. " Diego answered him.

Manny knew that when someone like Diego, one his best friends, used his full name, something important was going on, something was very wrong, or they were just experiencing a certain emotion. " What's wrong Diego? " Manny asked his feline friend.

" I was just thinking, that, something really bad could have happened. Like they were all killed by something, or someone, instead of dieing of old age like you said, and someone used this as a trick to get more humans to come. "

Manny pondered this for a moment, " You could be right. But if you are, then do we have any where else to go? " he asked the big cat.

Diego sighed and looked at the 'house' again, " I don't know, maybe we could find some woods? There might be some other animals there I could hunt, and there would obviously be plants..."

" Hey guys! " Everybody had become engrossed in one task or another and hadn't noticed Crash and Eddie sneak into the 'house'. They all looked at it again to see the twins sticking their heads out from behind the door. " Come check the inside of this place out! " Crash called out.

" Yeah! It's awesome in here! " Eddie added.

" Both of you come out there and get over here now! " Ellie commanded.

" Awwww! " Crash and Eddie chorused, before beginning to walk drearily over to Ellie.

" Wait, " Diego said. He looked intensley at the 'house', and Crash and Eddie looked up hopefully, wanting to go back inside.

" If Crash and Eddie can go in there and come back out perfectly unharmed, then I think we all probably could. " Diego said, then turned to the house, and began walking up to the steps in front of the door. He turned around to the herd when he reached the steps, " Any o' you coming or not? " Nobody moved. Diego shrugged, " Alrighty then. " Then he turned to the open door and walked inside.

" Diego wait!- " a thought suddenly popped into Manny's head but it was too late. Diego had disapeared inside. The herd couldn't do anything but wait for him to come out.

Diego walked inside and looked around. He saw quite a few odd things all around him, and he noticed that although there were no walls or doors, different sections of this part of the 'house' were decorated differently, as if each different part were a room. He looked straight ahead of himself, and saw a tunnel like part of the room a few meters away, with two more doors on the right paw side. He contiued on toward it, not bothering check what was on the other side of each door. He turned left, and saw a some steps. " These humans have big 'houses'. " he said to himself, then proceded up the steps.

How am i doing? Please tell me if anything doesn't seem right, or if someone is out of charecter.  
By the way, the thing about the herd being able to comunicate humans, Diego's idea isn't correct, the truth will come later in the story. I don't believe that would be the truth any way, I was just trying to tie it in with the ice age and form it from animal knowledge. Thank you to all who review!


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